Sour Patch Kids, Friendships and Falling In Love
by Brown Eyes Parker
Summary: She found herself thinking about him more often than she had ever thought of any other guy who had come in and out of her life. Coulson/May. Spoilers. AU-ish.


**Sour Patch Kids, Friendships and Falling In Love**

**A Coulson & May Story**

**By Brown Eyes Parker**

**Warnings: Minor spoilers for Captain America, Winter Soldier and spoilers for Agents of SHIELD.**

**Author****'****s Note: I wrote a large portion of this to ****"****Wait****"**** by Get Set Go. It makes me think of Coulvary because Ming Na said she thinks that Coulson is the one who got away.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Rating: T**

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_Wait 'til the sun shines through, wait 'til the sky is new and you'll wait too long. He will be gone._

**Wait, Get Set Go_**

He would leave Sour Patch Kids in her locker instead of Hershey Kisses. And still, she found herself thinking about him more often than she had ever thought of any other guy who had come in and out of her life.

Instead of walking her home, he would let her drive his vintage convertible. their books would be in a messy pile in the back seat as they drove down the New York interstate, making jokes and drinking diet Cokes. He wasn't interested in anything more than just being her friend, and that made her like him even more than the other guys who had come in and out of her life.

He would bring her pizza and soda that was loaded with caffeine when they were cramming for a test. He was more bookish than she ever would be, so he would stay up all night helping her memorize facts and figures, rewarding her with claps on the back and high fives when she remembered something without peeking at her notes or the textbook. He was the most geeky young man that she had ever known, but out of all the guys who had come in and out of her life, he was the first one that she wanted to keep around.

He asked her to dance when she was sitting in the corner, almost like a wallflower. She had never been much for dancing, she'd always had the agility of a fighter, not the grace of a ballerina. But he didn't mind when she stepped on his feet – so awkward in her stiletto heels – he would just laugh and tell her that sometimes feet were meant to be stepped on. She liked dancing with him more than she liked dancing with any of the other guys who had come in and out of her life.

They got older, joined the same organization and set out to save the world, one bad guy at a time. Their relationship grew stronger, she fell deeper in love with him and he became a better friend to her. She was able to pretend they were just friends, that her heart didn't skip a beat whenever she saw him, that the butterflies didn't stir up in her stomach like crazy when he had her pinned underneath him on the sparring mat, his eyes looking deeply into hers. She'd never felt anything akin to butterflies with any of the guys who had come in and out of her life.

He fell in love with a pretty woman who played the cello. Suddenly, he was floating around SHIELD with stars in his eyes and butterflies in _his _stomach. He still brought her coffee, still left Sour Patch Kids instead of Hershey Kisses on her desk, but he wasn't completely hers anymore. She got used to sharing him, but it wasn't the same. Everytime she looked at him, the butterflies were strangled by words she had never said. Out of all the guys who had come in and out of her life, he was the one who'd gotten away. 

And then he died, killed by the hands of a man less than a god. When Fury told her about it, showed her the vintage Captain America cards bloodied around the edges (some of his most prized possessions), she felt the blood in her veins turn to ice, her heart felt like it was torn into a million little pieces. But she didn't cry, not in front of Fury and not at the funeral.

She sat in the back of the church and watched his cellist throw herself on the closed coffin, her body racked with sobs. Her heart went out to the woman and their shared sorrow but her eyes remained dry, she couldn't even force herself to shed a couple of tears. She left before the service was over, went for a cup of coffee somewhere and tried to think of anything else but her fallen friend. It went on this way for a few weeks, and then one day she was rummaging through her locker for a clean bra. She had just given up and was about to slam the thing shut when an extra large bag of Sour Patch Kids toppled out along with gym shorts she'd forgotten to take home. She stared at them for a long minute, her heart beating rapidly in her chest as she realized he had to have put them in her locker before the New York thing, before the demi-god had impaled him and he'd left her alone with a building full of co-workers but not one really good friend. Then she picked them up and opened the bag, picking through it until she found a red one. She put it in her mouth and closed her eyes, savoring the unexpected last gift from her best friend. That night, it was like a dam had split in her chest. She cried for him, her pillow muffling her sobs from nosey neighbors. Out of all the guys who had come in and out of her life, he was the first one she that she had ever cried for. He was the first one she had ever missed.

Suddenly, he was back and begging her to come and help him out. Telling her that he _needed _her. She said yes because she liked that he needed her, that he was asking her for help. It was what she had always wanted, after all. He was the first guy who had come in and out of her life that she wanted to be needed by.

When she told him that she'd help him out, Fury paid her a visit. He played on her feelings for him and before she knew what was happening, she had agreed to keep an eye on him and report to the director of SHIELD about his activities. She convinced herself that it was for the best because now that she had him back, she did _not _want to lose him again! Of all the guys who had come in and out of her life, she wanted him to stay there forever.

Rediscovering their friendship was easy, they shared secrets with each other just like old times and he opened up to her in ways she couldn't believe. She would find Sour Patch Kids in the cockpit and he'd come to see her at all hours, sometimes when they sparred she would still get butterflies in the pit of her stomach. And he was always _so _gentle with her, she reveled the time he had patched her up, his warm fingers gently dancing over her wounds, the butterflies in her stomach really went at it then. The thing she had with Ward was nothing, he was just a poor substitute for the person she really wanted. With him it was just sex, just like it had always been with every other guy who had come in and out of her life. It would have been so much more with _him_ if she could have just worked up the courage to say something to him.

But then, he didn't trust her anymore. Seeing him with pure hatred in his eyes and a gun in his hand almost scared her to death. She couldn't tell him that she was Fury's snitch, but all at the same time she didn't want him to hate her. She wouldn't be able to stand it if he _did_. She swallowed back her fear and tried to think of a way to get out of this whole entire scrape she'd gotten herself into, but then the plane was making an unplanned change in the itinerary and she didn't get a chance to explain herself or actions. Didn't get a chance to make him see reason and to tell him that regardless of what he thought, she was still a good guy.

In the end, he wound up believing her. He even offered her an apology while he was patching up another wound she'd gotten at the hands of corrupt SHIELD agents. She accepted his apology and it wasn't because he was sending shivers up and down her spine as he tended to her cuts and bruises. When he was done, he hugged her and offered a package of Sour Patch Kids as a peace offering, She accepted both with a smile and an apology of her own. He was the first guy who had come in and out of her life that she ever really wanted to forgive.

One day, they saw his cellist getting coffee at a Starbucks, her stomach was rounding and she was wearing a gold band on her left ring finger. One look at him and she could tell that things weren't okay. She followed him back to the airplane and into the cockpit. Took him in her arms when he had buried his head in his hands. She knew, knew that he still cared about the other woman. As he slipped his arms around her waist and held onto her tightly, she was okay with that. For a small moment in time, he completely belonged to her.

Later on, they went out for cheeseburgers and fries. He told her that he had been keeping an eye on the cellist for a while, terrified that something was going to happen to her. He had never suspected that after two years, she would have moved on even though she had every right to do so. After all, she did truly believe that he was dead. She nodded and pretended to understand, not telling him that in the eighteen months they'd been apart, she hadn't even tried to move on from him. He was still grieving the death of his relationship, maybe there would be time for them one day. All she could do was bide her time and be there for him when he needed her the most. Out of all the guys who had come in and out of her life, she really wanted to be there for him.

She told him one day when the rest of the team had gone out for the afternoon. For a second, he looked at her funny and she was filled with an overwhelming sense of dread that he was going to reject her. But then, he put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. In one glorious second, her dread had turned to hope.

"I need a little bit of time," he said. "Wait for me, please."

A lot of guys had come in and out of her life. But he was the first guy that she ever waited for.

Six weeks later, she found Hershey Kisses and a single red rose in the cockpit.

She went to him immediately. He smiled at her when he opened the door. 

"You know, I kind of like Sour Patch Kids better than Hershey Kisses," she told him. "They're so distinctly you. They're kind of our thing."

"Next time," he promised.

She smiled, large and warm before kissing him. Lots of guys had kissed her, but he was the first one that she'd ever felt any kind of spark with.

**.**

Lots of guys had come in and out of her life, but he was the only one she allowed to stay. He was the only one that she had entrusted with heart. Lots of guys had come in and out of her life, but he was the only one she had fallen in love with.

He was the only one who she married and spent the rest of her life with.

**_The End_**

**Author's Note II:**

**Well, there you have it. I hope you all enjoyed this story. Leave me your thoughts in the box below. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!**

**Love,**

**Holly, 4/7/2014_**


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